welldone india.

It's heartning see India winning convincingly. Beating Pakistan in any sport is what every Indian supporter is looking forward to. Congtrats team India. Keep up the good work and win the world cup.

Great Game from Indian Hockey team. Wiped out all my failure memories of yester years, especially 1982 asian games final.

BEST OF LUCK FOR THE REST OF THE TOURNAMENTS.

a great start,continue in this fashion to bring back the glory of hockey in india

Absolutely a great Victory !As a descendent of refugees from Pakistan. I am proud to be born in a country as tolerant as accomodating of different cultures and religions, thats what India is all about. If people born in India do not feel this way, the door is open leave. I apologize for making his a political essay.
Congratulations to the Coach Brasa and all the team members who have made India proud. Now lets go all way. Good will prevail over evil.

Great Blog.... Thanks for all the old memories. India Pakistan Hockey has real potential to popularize the sport once again . We ned to have Test series between the two sides. That wll be a perfect situation for all hockey lovers.

The adrenaline is just awesome....

Great Victory..Hope India can make it to tthe semis. We are in a very difficult group.

Hockey game has suffered with time.Few years back we used to know names of all international players of hockey,but no more now.

Why do morons like you always have to link sports with nationalism?

If India does well in this world cup tears will come to my eyes. I remember those glory days of mid-70s when names like Ashok Kumar, Aslam Sher Khan, Surjeet Singh, were famous all over India. I remember India winning the world cup in Malaysia. I remember watching India trounce Argentina in a practice match in the FCI ground in Chembur, Bombay (Pakistan won that world cup - what a magnificent team that was! Hasan Sardar, Akhtar Rasool, Samiullah, Kalimullah...).

WELL DONE INDIA....Holi cant get any better.....I got up at 3 AM this morning to watch the match and every minute of that was worth it........!!!!!

Please don't let this end here.......let this go on for at least a while. Though it is too early, but i guess one can always dream - we would really want you to lift the trophy this time.

We have waited way too long..........Chak De'

We lost our dribbling skills because as the European countries began "discovering" hockey, they manoevered themselves into the administration of the game internationally and then changed the rules to introduce a physical game. This meant that, like soccer, the physical strength of the individual player, the ability to shoulder aside an opponent, now plays a huge role. The days of Dhyanchand dribbling through an entire team are gone forever - unless we train our players deal with physically larger opponents as well.

Having said that, congratulations to India on a great game and cheers to continue in the same form!!

Absolutely true, and I belong to that generation as well. The younger generation have a lot of thinking to do, when it comes to sport. The world has moved far ahead in this department whereas India still lags far behind. In terms of techniques, strategy, administration and pure hard work. Nonetheless, this holi gift is well timed. Even if we do go on to lose the other games, at least we have made a start. Remember, laurels are not won during a tournament, they are won during the work put before that.

Ya...
It was a great win. I wish that golden era of Indian hockey be returned....

Please don't let this end here.......let this go on for at least a while. Though it is too early, but i guess one can always dream - we would really want you to lift the trophy this time.

We have waited way too long..........Chak De'

I understand that at least now one should realize that we are still a force to reckon with. What a victory. This is only the starting and we wish to see many more such wonderful display of talent

I understand that at least now one should realize that we are still a force to reckon with. What a victory. This is only the starting and we wish to see many more such wonderful display of talent

i fully agree with you IPL is a sham
i recall the drak day in 1982 when we were thrashed 7-1 revenge on indian soil after 28 years
is sweet people are going gaga after tendulkars feat but i think this is bigger

awesome, awesome. I completely agree with the writer here as in my small hometown shops used to get closed in the evening around 4 pm- AAJ INDIA PAKISTAN HOCKEY MACTH HAI! man, i wish i had been with my colleagues in the Stadiam last evening

yes , it is really holi gift to all Indian people.

Mr. Avjit Ghosh,
I have seen you writing blogs in 1 hour of completing India's triumph in INDO-SA series. Where were you when Sachin made 200.
I dont know why dont you praise Sachin ever.
I know you Sehwag is your favourite but he cannot come near Sachin in technique and maturity of the game.

Anyways congrats to you for India's win over Pak.

go india go

It is a wonderful feeling. Let the same tempo & energy be maintained till we win the finals. All The Best Boys...... U have made us proud today. Thanks for a wonderful gift on Holi.......

Hello Avijit, This is Rakesh Sinha. Your article ivokes the real nostalgia . Thanks for taking us back to those days when Hockey used to be the symbol of our ultimate national identity and pride. You know only time I cried because of India losing a match was 1982 Asiad Games , the 7-1 drubbing from Pakistan.It is true that our generation has gone through the the most memorable ( 1975 world cup) and the most heartbreaking ( failure to qualify 2008 Olympics) moments of Hockey in which the moments of joy have been rarity and those of pains far too many.Yesterday.s win is one such rare moment . Let this sunk in our collective conciousness and let us relish this moment for some time

The resounding victory against Pakistan is great!
But what impressed me more than the victory was the manner the team played as a cohesive unit.
Now , please play with the same gusto against Australia.
Wishing Hockey India , especially the coach and all the players further success. Take it all a step at a time.
Well done !

truely awsome.......chack de india.....

I concur with the iews mentioned in the Article. The game was a perfect one. The hunger on the part of the Indians was clearly apparent through out those seventy minutes. May that continue thoughout this tournament as its hightime to bring back to lost glory of this lovely game. What I love about this game is that its all about speed and within minutes there can be enough wonders to result it it a nail biting finish.

India started its winning stride.players are not emotional.keep winningaustralia.play not to give opening.play free hockey you wingood luck india

KEEP IT UP GUYS AND SHOW ALL THAT HOCKEY IS OUR NATIONAL GAME NOT CRICKET..........

Guys all the best. It does not mean that job is over by defecting Pakistan.
You have to work hard and play well to defect the countries like Holland, Australia, Spain, Argentina etc to win the world cup. We are playing in home and we have advantage like home crowds and environment. We have to win the Hockey world cup to back the glory of Hockey India and reduce the dominance of cricket in Indian sport.

My best of luck and salute to all of you.

Jai Hind

Great show! Tears in my eyes to see India's Hockey reviving!

Please continue to support India even if they loose against other teams like Aus, Holland, W germany.Nowadays austro turf has changed the way hockey is played where high physicals are required rather than dribbling... a word commonly associated with hockey.whether Indians shouldfollow hockey or cricket or football is upto the massses to decide... euphoria is the same...when Sachin made a big score I did not find ant blogs... very very sad...kudos to hockey team and let them continue the winning spree..we are keenly following..

Great commentary, but still incomplete!
How can one forget the great artist, the dribbling 'Ustad' Mohd. Shaid whose solo runs were indeed treat to watch. I wonder if anyone still possess the same art and craft so very appealing in the past. Cricket can never match the thrills, excitment and bursts of adrenaline so often seen in sports like hockey & soccer!! Keep it up, Team India!!

Well deserved and outstanding victory. It acutally outcasted T-20. We should give equal importance to our nationl and other games. In vancouver representation from India is only 5 members, which is a shame inspite of our population. Kudos to Indian hockey team.

Very well done India. Keep up the same spirit in whole world cup.

I did not watch the match but I felt all the emotions of the game in the one minute it took me to read the article. Chak de, India

keep it up india

Thanks for writing this very patriotic article.I am a Canadian and just today we witnessed the closing ceremonies of the 2010 winter Olympics games.For all Canadians the games were a real success as Canada set all time record of winning highest Number of gold medals by any host country since the start of the Winter Olympics games.To add to this amazing success the Canadian Ice hockey team defeated their very strong rival the United States of America.The story is very much same with the Indian side defeating the Pakistan side.As regards your concern i guess India needs more and more investment in to games not only hockey and cricket but all other sports competed in different levels of games held world over viz Olympics, commonwealth,and numerous other world championships to improve the level of their athletes.My advise to you is to start a movement to make some noise to the government and corporate organizations to pitch in and provide financial support to the potential athletes in whatever sports they may wish to participate.It may sound difficult, but a start is necessary to get things moving and all other things like development programmes etc will fall into its place once a start has been made.This will in the long run help improve overall health of the people of the nation and at the same time make huge difference in mental and physical development of the Citizens of India.

Truly a great win.Whole nation celebrated this win with Holy colou and sweet.This is the Holi Gift from our belowed Hockey players.Cheer for them and it will remain in our memory for long time.

Ahhh!!! Atlast 110 million nation woke up and supporting their real national support. I enjoyed every second of match between Indian and Pak yesterday (Even more than a cricket match) after all it was a world cup. I was glued to my seat and blown whistle on every goal. This start has given me a reason to cheer my Hockey Team and expectations are very high (Not less than top two). What a spectacular and spirited performance by India. I hope they will continue to dominant their opponents throughout the tournaments with the support of home crowd.
Let’s support our unsung hero’s, so that they can win this world cup for our nation.
It's high time to make Hockey a commercial sport just like Cricket, so that guys can earn big bucks!!!
Truly .... Chake de Indian

Congrats India. You played well and deserved to Win.

Pakistani

We have to keep in mind that the domination in world hockey has shifted to Europe and Australia. While the victory over Pakistan is definitely an occasion to rejoice we should keep in focus our goal to get into the semi-finals at least! I used to watch Asok Kumar play for Mohun Bagan in the sixties - I wish somebody in the current team had his skills!

It is a awesome begining , Beating Pak convincingly , but let us not get complacent and lets keep the rhythm going and make sure we atleast make it to semifinals, that will make a huge difference to Indian Hockey.

Iam happy that India has won against Pakistan and hopefuly rule the World Cup

It was ashame that most of the sports channels were showing the old cricket maches instead of showing the live hockey. i was checking tensports, neo sports. geotv. finalyy i got it on showtime psorts 2

True...This is going to awake our generation , which does not understand hockey the way it understands cricket...We are pround of you Team India...

it is time ,we indians turn back to our national game which can still be called a game unlike cricket which has become a business and the players merceranaries willing to play for the highest bidder.The game of hockey requires our love and the players our affection.I think it is time all of us stand up and notice the decline of the beautiful game.The 70 mins of a good hockey match can generate a tempo and adrenaline surges that no idiotic 20:20 cricket match can ever hope to match.So cheer our true sportsman and stop wasting time over the so called TEAM IN BLUE.cHAK DE INDIA

You are so right, man! It is such a thrill to know that we can beat Pakistan in hockey, too. This is such a unique opportunity in a country of cricket lovers. May hockey live for a long time and unite all the Indians at home and abroad.

Congratulations are in order as all the contestants are still alive.

It is a pity that the yougsters of india do not know much about our national game - Hocky - which brought us so many proud moments & accolades in the past!! I for myself, do not know much about Hocky as a game!! It is because we are always exposed the game of cricket overlooking all other sports!! You will find cricket acadamies & stadiums with good facilities in a city but the same is not the case for Hocky or Football!!

If we want our national game to accede to a next level; we need to promote it at the very school level. There is nothin that the govt. is doing to promote sporting activities at the school level in india.

People of my generation would not be aware of the facts as mentioned... but if the first match is anything to go by then we are for a treat.. People want entertainment, fight, grit and a win... we saw it all...

WHERE IS THE MARATHI MANAS, BAL THACKRAY, THE SELF APPOINTED PROTECTOR OF HINDUS? HE DID NOT ASK THE MARATHI MANAS TO WATCH INDIA-PAK MATCH. HE DID NOT POST ANY BLOG BUT SRK & SANIA MIRZA DID & ASKED INDIANS TO WATCH. THEY ARE TRUE INDIANS NOT THE PYSEODO HINDU BAL THACKRAY.
IF HE IS AN INDIAN HE WILL TURN UP FOR ALL INDIA MATCHES AND CHEER OUR TEAM TO WIN. HE IS JUST A FAKE AND POWER HUNGARY MAN PUTTING SAND IN THE EYES OF MARATHI MANAS.
ALL MARATHI MANAS GET UP AND SAY
J A I H I N D.

India really rocked yesterday!! We celebarted India's win with holy.

Very Nice Blog Sir....Think Hockey should get the due respect in a Cricket frenzy nation....We should not forget that Hockey is our national Game....Ups and downs are part of every sport...its just that we should learn to take winning and losing in the same spirit......Go India Chak de India,...

Fatte Chak Te

Congratulation to Indian hockey team on beating Pakistan. No matter you win or lose in other matches but continue to beat Pakistan. In cricket India is world champion but they become nervous when they play with Pakistan. IF YOU CONTINUE on winning a day will come when you players will get more than cricketers whether it will be money or respect.

match was tooo gud... though Indian Players made some mistakes by 4 penalty corner but at end of the wat counts is who won ... keep it boys

Our pakistan victory was realy great,in yesterday match india beat to pakistan in avery field.it was most excitale hocky mach for me in last few year.
we also expecting continous this performance from indian hocky.
Finaly i want to say our hocky team :- chack de india, chack de...de...

Indian victory has brought back a ray of hope for the revival of Hockey in India. I would say, Indian team has won 'inspite' of the Hockey Fedration of India. On this Holi I wish Indian Hockey Team best of luck and success. It was a fantastic gift that the team has given to us Indians on the Holi eve, I saluted back Shivendra Singh, when he'd saluted to the spectators after his goal against Pakistan. It was great to watch a confident, aggressive and well oiled Indian team. 'toh phir iss baar- chak de India'!!

I never seen hockey match like that.
I feel Very proud on our team.
3 celebration back to back,Sachin's 200, Hockey team win & holi
Thanks to our hockey team.Jai Hind & Best of Luck for next matches

Great to find another hockey fan. I was getting desperate to be able to watch it on TV here in London. Unfortunately I couldnt.

Great win nontheless.

I am really happy and proud of it. To be frank this for the first time I am following Hockey so closely. Like me, I hope many true Indian Sports Fan will be behind India Hockey Fans and cheer for them. Yes, this is just a beginning, we must aim for CUP and I am with the team

I am spanish,a hockey´s lover and I am very proud of Jose Brasa:He wrote a good page in the history of India´sport (take care of him,he´s a very good coach). I wish you a good world cup and I hope you´ll reach the final. Congratulations!

Good game INDIA. You guys played well and deserved the victory. Now go ahead and beat Australia!!THE CUP MUST BE WON BY A TEAM OF THE SUBCONTINENT. Go INDIA Go!!!

India proved that if give proper oppurtunities and the things the need they will be world champions its the neglegance of hockey association and govt which is letting them go down

but buddy really...........

i don;t think so..

wonderful win we should aim at the world cup title

R.I.P. INDIAN HOCKEY. The way Indian Hockey team is playing these days is pathetic(in fact I think pathetic is a euphemistic word). There is hardly any co-ordination between players. As compared to other teams, no 2 Indian players are seen together when attacking. If you see other countries they attack in a group of 2 or 3 or 4. Instead of using short passes, they use long passes which get intercepted very easily. There is no marking of opponents. In the age of fast paced hockey Indian players wait an eternity to build up an attack. They give backup passes so frequently even when they are trailing. This is indigestible. They keep on dribbling within themselves. While counter attacking they wait for opponents to reach to their respective half. Instead of focussing on goals, Indian team is focussed on earning penalty corners. This is negative hockey. The only silver lining is some of Indian players are very good dribblers. At this state Indian Hockey will slowly die its death. May Indian Hockey Rest In Peace.

By comparing ourselves to Pakistan, we have begun to look like Pakistan, a tiny country of 160 million people. The day we beat Pakistan in the opening match, we called it holi victory and all that. Now the Australians and Spanish has beaten us badly and proved that we are a third-rate team. Probably, for the fanatics, the world cup got over with victory over Pakistan...

I saw all matches India Played in 2010 World Cup.
All the Played very nicely what the Indian Hockey needs the support from fellow countryMen's I have a strong feeling India will be again at Top of the table if people and govt step forward to improve. the situation.

Although India beat arch-rivals Pakistan in their group encounter, they were a bunch of foolish players just running after the ball with hockey sticks in their hand just similar to how shepherds run after their sheeps!!!

Given that India did not create major inroads in the games after the opener with pakistan, I have tried to use the hockey as a concept in the Indian Judiciary.
Anyone who would like to go through my post

it is
http://sidhanthhota.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/